Spacer Clans Adventure 3: Naero's Fury

by Mason Elliott

  “This is where you crashed,” Naero said. “Where you met Jia.

  “Zoa-4 is her private sentinel world. It more than belongs to Jia and is part of her. It is her–her precise creation–the very first test of her powers that the Drians gave her. It is all that and much more. Only Ur-Jahal is far more amazing, according to her.”

  A well-defended pod opened up before them like an enormous, delicate flower–yet one bristling with hi-tek weaponry. The weaving of biomancy and teknomancy was so carefully woven together, that both Naero and Om found it staggering.

  Zoa was a living organism, and a living machine, all at the same time.

  Naero had an idea where they were going, and why Baeven was so eager to get there.

  They made their way down in the bower of the sleeping goddess of the Driathans.

  Baeven led the way. The yearning look on his face grew more intense with each step.

  Waves of light washed over them. Naero sensed and drank in the power Cosmic, heavy upon the very air. It was woven and stuffed into the atomic level of everything around them.

  The Power of the Cosmic Lifespark and the Harmony.

  It flowed out from the center of the flower’s pod or core, glowing with a scintillating, glorious radiance that spread throughout every atom and molecule of the planet.

  You could drink it in.

  Both Naero and Om comprehended it all suddenly and understood.

  Jia controlled and directed every atom of this living world.

  She was its heart and soul–it’s Lifespark. Jia infused all of its forward evolution with infinite purpose and design.

  She was its creator.

  Just as her creators had been the godlike Drians before her.

  Baeven knelt and caressed the core of the closed pod with his bare fingertips. It flashed with radiance at his touch and immediately yielded, unsealing, opening, and slipping back to either side.

  They could enter within now, into an inner sanctum suffused with the pure light of the Harmony.

  A goddess really did lie sleeping within.

  A female entity of light–of beauty beyond imagination and comparison.

  If Jia was but a shadow of the glory of the Drians, then their beauty and perfection must have indeed been unbearable to behold.

  She lay curled to one side wearing a soft shimmering gown of some seamless, silken cloth that looked as if it were made of liquid light itself. Her glittering white-gold hair looked beyond holographic. Her skin itself–somehow a hue of both shimmering chrome and radiant white alabaster.

  Baeven climbed into the bower without hesitation, wrapped himself lovingly around her, and curled up beside her tantalizing form in pure bliss.

  As if that was his place–as if doing so were the most natural thing in the world.

  For the first time in her life, Naero witnessed Baeven weep, and his tears fell freely upon his beloved’s motionless, perfect face and hair like an awakening rain.

  Naero gasped and covered her mouth with both hands, as she herself wept. All present fell to their knees, stricken dumb.

  The way Baeven looked upon Jia–the way he touched her–were the very personifications of love.

  He turned Jia’s perfectly sculpted face up to his and kissed her with passion, full upon the lips.

  Jia’s soul swept back into her miraculous form.

  Jia stirred and came to life, every motion, each movement of her form flowing perfection–like watching art and beauty themselves move. And the more she awoke, the more the aura of light around her grew.

  Enchanting.

  Enthralling.

  Her first act was to open her mouth and give herself fully to her beloved–kissing Baeven in return–just as passionate and yearning.

  His hands went to her face, caressing every line.

  And when she opened her shining, radiant green eyes to his, Baeven shuddered and was completely overcome. He sobbed and bowed his head above her breast, as her perfectly sculpted hands pulled him closer to her heart.

  Naero wiped her own tear-stained face, unable to look away.

  If just once in her life, she could have someone look upon her that way.

  She wished that she could turn back and give Baeven and Jia even a few precious hours together. The two of them more than deserved it.

  Yet this was not a time for lovers. They were at war with implacable, ruthless foes. All of them had risked much to come to Zoa-4 on urgent business. The fate of the entire galaxy might be at stake.

  Jia smiled like the dawn of the Zoan sun itself, and lifted Baeven’s face down up to hers, and kissed him deeply once again.

  Then she pulled away, grinning as happily as any lover would.

  “Later, my love. Now that I have returned, let me check with all of the other sentinels. You will also be happy to know that the gateway to Ur-Jahal has finally been sealed. I am the key, and I can go forward with you from now on.”

  “Do as you will; you will not leave my arms.”

  Jia nodded happily. “Hold me then. I wish for no miracle, other than the touch of your hands upon me.”

  She lay back down, in Baeven’s arms, and light pulsed out from her bower and flickered back and forth throughout the complex.

  “Have a seat, everyone,” Baeven called out. “This may take a while.”

  Several minutes passed.

  Finally Jia gasped and startled them all. She sat up in a near panic.

  “Govae. It is Govae that they have located. Even now, they assail him upon his own sentinel world of Dotar-2.

  “Where is that, Jia?” Naero said.

  “Dotar-2 is very far from us, I am afraid.” She fed them the coordinates.

  “Damn it!” Baeven said, reading his wristcomp. “In an inner section of the Cygnus arm–another part of the Gamma Quadrant–virtually unexplored by any of the current, sentient races. Even with our current tek, it would take us decades to reach Dotar-2 and get back.”

  “Not with our new leap drive,” Naero suggested.

  “It doesn’t even work yet,” Baeven said. “The last preliminary test nearly killed us all.”

  “Then we’d better get to work,” Naero said. “How come the enemy knows about all of this? How can they navigate so readily across such vast distances? I’m sick of them having every advantage over us.”

  “They don’t always have to travel,” Baeven said. “From studying Ullogk, G’lothc minds can be completely linked with each other under certain conditions, sharing everything they know and experience.”

  “Like a hive mind?” Naero suggested. “Like the hive minds of the Dakkur?”

  Baeven waved one hand. “Far more complex than that and over greater distances–even between galaxies it would appear–and that is stunning. I have learned that each G’lothc soul operates as an independent, separate individual. Yet, once they are linked properly, each knows and comprehends what all the others know and experience. It is believed that the Yattai share a similar affinity with each other on their plane of existence.”

  “That would be another distinct advantage,” Naero pointed out. “Instant awareness, communication, and coordination of their activities across vast distances.”

  “Yet even their abilities are not limitless,” Baeven said. “The conditions allowing them to communicate and share information in this manner require vast amounts of Darkforce energy, the basis for all of their tek. Such transmissions are arranged over very short bursts of time. Naero and I witnessed one such exchange inside the enemy biowar facility.”

  “That also worries me,” Naero said. “What about the G’lothc spirit that you have trapped within you? Can it spy on us through you and alert the others to our plans?”

  “Not unless it took over my mind,” Baeven said. “And that isn’t about to happen. Inside my mind, I am in complete control. As you know, Naero, the G’lothc mind and soul essence that I have imprisoned within me is cowering and quivering in stasis–entirely cut off from the others of his foul kin
d. I probably should simply destroy it, but I’m still studying it, trying to learn its language and weaknesses. I can’t help thinking such information might prove useful to us one day.”

  “Just be careful,” Naero said. “Those foul spirits of theirs reek with Darkforce energy, evil, and malice. I wish we could wipe them all out.”

  Baeven turned to Jia and took her hand. “What of your comrade, Jia? If we can reach him, what can we do?”

  “Each sentinel world is well-defended. Yet any static defense can be eventually overwhelmed, given time and enough firepower. The alarms and warnings have gone out, to me here, and to each of the other thirty-four sentinels and their worlds. Our brother Govae, at Dotar-2 is under direct assault. Our enemies of old move against us. We and all the Driathan people stand in grave danger.”

  “What’s our plan of attack?” Baeven said.

  “First, we must reach Dotar-2 in time. We must break the siege and rescue Govae before our foes can capture him and destroy and sift through his mind, his thoughts, and his knowledge as they tear him apart. They seek the location of the other thirty-five sentinel worlds, and of Ur-Jahal itself.”

  “How long can Govae hold out?” Naero asked.

  “Quite a while. If things go against him, he will attempt to destroy himself before he can be taken. Yet he would only do so at the last need.”

  “What if the worst happens,” Baeven asked. “What if our foes overwhelm his defenses and capture him? What then?”

  Terror washed over Jia’s normally serene features. “Then I fear the worst. After they strip his mind, they could erase and eradicate his spirit essence. Destroying Govae’s soul would revert his empty shell–his body–back to its proto-form. With the right tek and research, the enemy could use that proto-form as an open vessel. They could implant it with a new mind and spirit–one from the G’lothc. That would indeed be a very great evil.”

  “How so?” Naero asked.

  “Then the evil G’lothc would be truly reborn, into an immortal body with all of our hi-tek secrets, and many of those of our Makers. Just as the Makers feared. That is why they protected us from the Great War. Imagine the abomination of G’lothc souls possessing the ultimate hosts–the immortal bodies of my beloved people, that will never fail or wear out? There would be no end to the damage they could inflict upon the universe.

  “First they would use the knowledge they gained to go on the hunt for the other Driathan sentinels, taking over more host bodies to use in their vile plots and exploiting our tek. Eventually, they would locate Ur-Jahal, and all of our people, locked in their healing sleep. Millions of perfect, immortal, self-healing hosts, ripe for the conquest.”

  Baeven rose up and clenched his fists. “We will not allow that.”

  “We must find a way to reach Govae, then. I sense his pain and distress. I dare not alert him, for fear that they might detect our efforts and locate Zoa also. Jia shuddered. “My poor brother stands alone against the full might of our dark foes!”

  “Govae is your brother?” Naero asked, suddenly thinking of her siblings.

  Jia smiled sadly. “So we were all created. All Driathans are brothers and sisters,” she said.

  “Do Driathans marry? Can they reproduce?”

  “Not normally.” Jia looked at Baeven briefly. “Yet love makes all things possible. Until I met Bae, there were many things that I thought were impossible. He has opened my eyes to so many things in this universe–love and pleasure not the least of them. Who knows then, what can be?”

  Jia touched his face. Baeven leaned into her caress and kissed her open palm.

  That was it. It was painfully obvious how these two felt about each other.

  Naero had to give them them some privacy.

  “We’ll keep expanding work on the leap drive,” she said. “That’s going to take some time. Why don’t the two of you take a break and get re-acquainted, while we keep things going here on our end?”

  40

  Naero spoke with their crews while Baeven and Jia took their private time together on board The Shadow Fox in their quarters.

  Naero arrived in the planning room first, prepared to update everyone on every status of their various projects and missions. With so many people stuffed into it from their ships, the room was a hodge-podge of scents to Naero’s sensitive nose.

  She could pick out each person’s scent, their various colognes or perfumes, the wiring and plas smell of tek. She noted various forms of lix or food they had on them, or that they had recently snacked on.

  After the briefing, they all returned to their posts and duties. Ty and his teks re-doubled their efforts on the leap drive, scheduling a battery of progressive tests throughout the next few days.

  They would continue to use Naero and Baeven as their Cosmic batteries to accomplish these feats–to continually power the latest variations of the new device. Jia could help a little with her control of nearby Zoa, feeding them pure flows of Cosmic energy.

  But it all remained exhausting.

  They had no choice.

  Get the damn tek working and reach Govae, or allow him and all of his vast secrets to fall to their enemies.

  Naero had to rest and refuel continually, if she was going to keep up the schedule they required.

  Batteries needed to re-charge.

  She reached out briefly into the Astral Plane during one of her rest sessions, attempting to reach Womi.

  To her surprise, Khai was waiting for her to appear there and pounced on her almost immediately, swooping in to attack her. He got out a few garbled words before Naero broke off her connection.

  The Mystic Enforcer stalked them relentlessly because of her–coming closer every second–just as she suspected.

  And when he found them, they had no way to stop him.

  Especially once he reached Zoa-4.

  There weren’t any enemy forces there to throw in his way. Even she and Baeven would be hard pressed to fight him and that damn Cosmic sword of his. Especially while they were both constantly being drained and kept so weak.

  But they couldn’t let anything stop them, either. They were the only ones who knew anything about these dire enemy threats, or who had a ghost of a chance of doing anything about them.

  And even they remained ignorant–still in the dark about so much, constantly playing catch-up with their foes.

  After more fitful rest, Naero went to check on the non-stop leap drive experiments.

  Ty and his teks looked tired, bleary-eyed, and discouraged.

  “Any luck with the probes?” she asked.

  They shook their heads.

  “Let’s face it, N–we’re making scant progress,” Ty said, half-heartedly.

  “Yeah…by constantly failing,” Zhen noted. “By learning what not to do. Good thing you’re here, N. We’re out of juice. Time to feed the kitty again.”

  “Ugh…” She rolled her eyes. The device continued to suck her and Baeven dry of their Cosmic energies to power itself. And with Baeven still recovering from his injuries, and catching up with Jia, Naero was the only game in town at the moment.

  “Okay. Just don’t make me pass out this time, Z.”

  Dr. Zhentisa smirked. “No promises.”

  “Just lie down on the medbed, N.”

  “Genius. Where’s my head?”

  More of the same jolly time.

  After they were done, and she had some lix and food, Naero finally felt like she could stand up and walk.

  Good news. We sent out another leap probe and finally brought one back…without it imploding.

  “Great, Om. Imploding. Bad.”

  Alala cut in from her scanning and comstation.

  “We’ve got something coming in, Captain. Cloaked and approaching fast.”

  “What is it?” Ty asked. “Khai? The enemy?”

  “The Enforcer doesn’t cloak,” Naero said. “He just charges in and kicks ass.”

  “Right.”

  “Even with the new sensor ar
rays Baeven gave us, we’re still having a problem pin-pointing or defining it. But whatever it is, it’s coming straight at us like it knows exactly where we are. Arrival…within just a few hours.”

  “Track it as best you can and keep us posted.”

  They were running out of time.

  With Khai also closing in. Naero could feel it on the back of her neck.

  Now this unknown phantom coming straight for them.

  Jia and Baeven finally joined them in the tek lab, both looking radiant and particularly pleased.

  Over the next two hours, they ran one experiment after another.

  “We’ve done it,” Jia said at last. “We sent out a probe, even further than it would take to reach Dotar-2, and retrieved it safely. All we need to do now, is refit the device to our ships, program our destination, and get going.”

  “Refitting now,” Tyber said. “All fixers working toward that goal. I’ll use teknomancing to speed up the reconfiguration. Just let me focus.”

  Naero shook her head in frustration. She and Om went over the data and had bad news for them all.

  “Haisha. I’m sorry, my friends, but it’s still not going to work. Even with all we’ve done, were still days away from hitting the go button on this device. Khai, and this other thing are closing in on us too fast. They’ll be all over us long before then.”

  “I have a radical suggestion,” Alala announced to both ships. “Om and I have finished decoding more fragments of the KDM referring both to to leap tek–and its similarities to the enemy wormhole generators. The Kexx knew all about them. With simple modifications, we can also use a variant of this tek to open a temporary wormhole to Dotar-2. It’s a one shot deal with an unstable wormhole, and it will only last a few minutes, but it’s our only chance of getting us there quickly. We can still continue to perfect our primary goals with the Leap Drive for future use.”

  “But the question remains,” Jia asked. “How fast can we make it all work?”

  “Estimates with the fixers are between one and two hours,” Alala said.

  “That’s more like it. Let’s throck on that,” Naero said. “Give the fixers the specs and I’ll absorb the data from Om.”